Breakfast Stout | Founders Brewing Company

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Reviews by shacawgo24:

A-Coffee brown-black. Put cream in your coffee and that is the color of the head, tan. Head is one finger thick, sudsy, and dies quickly. No lacing. But maybe with a double bottle serving instead of one, lace would appear and head would be thicker. Still, a dark beauty of a beer.

T-Tag team of coffee & chocolate wrestle on the palate. Molasses. Toffee. Charcoal smoke. Plum even. Cream of Wheat. Oatmeal. Cocoa Rice Krispies. Wheat grain. Ink. Resin. Hemp. Tobacco. Dark sour dried fruits: prunes and raisins. I think the beginning, middle and end is a uniform sip. You can take your time and pluck out multiple flavors one by one. The aftertaste is a mild sour. With inky vapors on the breath.

M-Perfect medium body. Spritz-y, bright low-medium carbonation is a constant. Always sizzles from start to finish. Goodness, this beer warms you when it is ICE COLD. That is the definition of perfect carbonation. Not a typical dead feeling stout, Breakfast Stout has life. Root beer float and/or milkshake sudsy feel is present, and yet is fluid enough to be soft and velvety. Nice sour alkaline aftertaste, gentle. Bitter resins on the after as well. The body does thin out though, feeling liqueur like with time. But the carbonation gives a consistent sizzle down your chest, like boiling sugar. Sticky. If the beer was thicker, consistently, this would be the best feeling beer around.

O-Possibly the best four-pack of beer you can buy. I like experimenting with the pours on this beer. Slow pour and it becomes a flavorful dark liqueur with no head. Hard pour and you get more of a stout look, with better head retention and lacing possibilities. This beer must be in a snifter or an oversized wine glass at all times, to impart better smells and expand better tastes. Top shelf. This beer doesn't have to be improved, but if the body were thicker and the head were as well, Breakfast Stout would be literally perfect. But what is perfect in life? Breakfast Stout is the epitome of NEAR PERFECT.

More User Reviews:

This is a big one: Founders Breakfast Stout. I've been told about it, heard rumours, news reports on CCN/BBC and Chinese whispers about the greatness of this beer, so much so that I was shocked to see it sitting quietly on a shelf in The Archive next door cellars... I had to have it and review it immediately, and here faithful reader(s) we are *sniff*.

Poured from a 355ml bottle into the sacred Chimay chalice, sorry the simple nonic pint was too lowly to behold this brew.

A: Black as Satan's publicist (hey Satan is an equal opportunity lord of terror) this brew presents with a Texas tea coloured body (that's oil son!) and no head, just a ring of tan lace around the edge, mmm.

S: Cant really smell anything apart from that Kona coffee bean, this literally has the aroma of a cold press coffee, delicious but one-dimensional (sorry Founders). I even agitated the hell out of it with anecdotes about my day, but nothing/nada/zip - just Kona cold press coffee.

T: Holy shit this beer rocks. The taste is like the richest coffee flavour my tongue has ever encountered. There are notes of roast chicory, dark chocolate and earthy/herbal hops impart a bitter finish. Damn this is tasty. Something about it keeps me sipping on it, it's difficult to put down. There is some smokiness in there as well. Maybe a hint of prune... I can't stop sipping!

M: First thought that springs to mind is "Man my tongue is totally coated in sticky coffee goodness". Heavy bodied and smooth, Marvin Gaye smooth. The viscosity is one of the most remarkable parts of this brew - it's soooo chewy and sticky, like a coffee Stout flavoured honey.

D: Wait I'm not done praising this beer yet; it gets better as it gets warmer, more flavours come out of the wood works - hints of brandy with some rich toffee too. That is truly a sign of a great beer: it gets better as it gets warmer. Which is why the English drink their beers at room temperature. I think I've found it - the best Stout ever. Period.

Food match: They call it a breakfast Stout but I think it is more a dessert Stout, our an after-dinner cigar Stout. Or even a screw-eating-just-main-line-it-into-my-arm-with-an-IV Stout, and if that's a mouth-full so is this brew.

Pitch black (opaque), viscous, and thick as hell, liquid with a towering dark coffee colored foaming head. Excellent retention and plenty of stick to the glass.

Incredible nose of roasted coffee and rich chocolate with a pleasing acrid edge.

Massive, full-bodied, velvety smooth, viscous, thick and chewy feel on the palate - thanks to the oatmeal, in part. Roasted malt astringent twang, with some hoppy character mingled in  some herbal spice and leaf. Bitter chocolate. Plenty of coffee flavors with an acidic bite, silky milk chocolate character soothes. Oak-y. Molasses notes. Stodgy cooked oatmeal in the flavor. Hints of sherry in the warming alcohol, with a low spice. Finish lingers with a play on sweet malts and dry, bitter savories. Sweet alcohol burn becomes part of the linger as the beer warms.

Breakfast Stout? Hell yeah! Thats when I tried my sample! What a way to kick-off my morning. Quite possibly one of the most interesting American Double Stouts on planet Earth. Absolutely delicious.

(Enjoyed over the course of :30 mins to allow all of the nuances to pull through as the beer warmed to room temp - I highly recommend this.)

Normally I don't like declaring one thing my "favorite," be it a movie, a song, a book or whatever. My tastes just vary so much from year to year and even day to day. That said, Founders Breakfast Stout is my favorite beer. Hands down. It is the beer that got me into stouts. It is the beer that got me away from that devil drink called wine. It rekindled my love affair with craft brews, coffee and even the diseased whore's mitten that is the state of Michigan, a perpetual thorn in the side of common decency and God's favorite state in the Union, my home, the Buckeye state of Ohio.

Breakfast Stout saved my life.

Well no, not really, but it is very good. Every fall my girlfriend and I call up the local liquor store every few days until they say it's in.. Then we go and buy it pretty much every time we get beer until it runs out (so like once a week). Lately we've been buying multiple four-packs at a time because it seems to get more popular and run out quicker every year. I would implore Founders to make this a year round thing, though that might take away from the "specialness" of it. Really, I'd just hope they make more next year.

So what is the actual experience like?

Ineffable.

You'll just have to go out and try it for yourself. The only things I can really say are that it's thick like crude oil with a strong-but-not-too-strong coffee flavor. It will coat your mouth and warm you heart. Honestly, it's just that good. It will open your eyes. It will change your mind, your life, your very soul. It was. It is. It will always be. It is the alpha and the omega. It was there at my first love of stouts, and it will be there at the end of my liver.

Breakfast Stout is one of those rare drinks that pleases everyone. My girlfriend and I have very different beer tastes, but we can both agree that this is the best beer human beings have yet to offer. I feel like high school me, modern me, my mom, my grandfather, my grandmother, my dad, Barack Obama and Rush Limbaugh could all love this beer.

There is no other. Thou shalt put no other beers before me (if it's in season and the bar serves it, of course).

My local bar gets a single keg of KBS a single time per year. Much to my chagrin and eternal shame, I have yet to try it because it sells out in literally two hours, which is pretty much how long it takes to drain a keg by just holding down the tap. I shit you not, this year my girlfriend and I are taking off work and camping out at the bar to ensure we are a part of that two hours. I know it sounds crazy, but you just haven't tried the dream, the vision, the spiritual experience that is Breakfast Stout. Like the crack cocaine, one taste and you'll be hooked. Just try it. Everybody's doing it.

Full bodied & smooth, the alcohol content is almost completely hidden with only the slightly warming feel giving an indication as to the strength of this one. Strong sweetness with the occasional bit of bitterness; frighteningly easy to drink too.

An exceptional beer from Founders, definitely the best I've tried from them and up there with the best I've tried from any brewery for that matter. Excellent stuff from the start & one I'll be picking up the next time I spot it anywhere.

Liquid devil's food cake. This may be the first beer I've ever seen that has no highlights. The liquid crowds the edges of the glass so snugly, and with such menace, that light dare not attempt to get a foothold. Most impressive. The dark golden, milk chocolate crown is a beast. It squats with an equally forbidding countenance in the top quarter of the glass, daring any lovers of fizzy yellow beer to approach, much less take a sip.

The nose is huge and is redolent of crushed coffee beans and melted dark chocolate. And then some more coffee beans. And then some more. This has to be the most coffee-dominant nose in the known universe. At least in my known universe. I am not a coffee aficionado by any means, but I have to give the aroma the respect it deserves. If I loved coffee, this might be my Holy Grail of beer noses.

Incredible palate-busting flavor. Thankfully, bittersweet chocolate is equally as prominent as espresso. So much so that the beer tastes like dark chocolate fudge made with black coffee as the liquid ingredient. I knew that Founders wouldn't disappoint in the hop department. The citric hops play an integral role in turning Breakfast Stout from what could have been an (admittedly incredible) two-trick pony into a three-trick thoroughbred. They deepen the flavor profile even further and firmly place this beer into the pantheon of Great Beer.

Sweet and bitter vie for supremacy, with bitter winning in the end. The finish is more than long, it's downright obstinate. Seemingly interminable echoes of chocolate-coffee/coffee-chocolate reverberate long after the beer has met its glorious fate in my warming belly. The body/mouthfeel is big, yet doesn't make it all the way to viscous or chewy. Still though, it's incredibly smooth and creamy and is sheer joy in the mouth. 8.3% ABV? Surely they jest. There is no hint of ethanol to be had.

FBS deserves its reputation and then some. My preferences run to the less java-intensive, but then it wouldn't be a breakfast stout, would it? This brewery continues to delight and amaze with quality beer after quality beer. Breakfast Stout is an outstanding achievement by any measure. Thanks to TikkiGodxxx for the bottle.

One of the best beers that I've ever had. Period. Excellent! It's so good that I'm going to buy the rest of the inventory at the liquor store near me, so as I'll have some for the year, due to it being seasonal. Yes, it's that good! (I'm drinking one right now!)

L: dark cocoa with a cinnamon head.
S: chocolate and coffee all the way
T: hard to use anything other than chocolate and coffee to describe the taste. Doesn’t really have any nuts but perhaps a hint of oats
F: leaves a thick coating around the tongue with a lingering coffee taste

New to reviews so don’t rip me apart, but I’ve been looking forward to trying this staple from Founder’s and it does not disappoint! Happily drinking it on Thanksgiving as well, so all around, a great beer drinking experience!

Date: June 27, 2015... Glassware: Classic Guinness pint... Occasion: a rainy--and cool--late June evening... Appearance: the standard dark black body that dares one to find daylight; brown, slushy head that settles quickly to a boggish texture; lacing forms in strong smears that hold steady.... Aroma: a welcoming brash punch of alcoholic spirits--bourbon, rum--with fresh hops pushing up earthy peat with strength...some cherry, cola, and dampened wood...the chocolate and coffee come late but round the experience nicely.... Palate: full-bodied and mega creamy; tickles the teeth with some happiness, only to crash the throat with a brick-like weight that doesn’t disturb the taste buds; for a stout, a lively amount of carbonation; reasonable, warm, slightly alcoholic finish....Taste: the chocolate mellows the coffee bean enough to make the two a happy marriage, with slightly citric fruits peaking at the start, in and amongst the malty, earthy aspects...rewarding and warming--again, a fitting beer to be had at the start (or the end of) a day--versatile in its power...Overall: a formidable, forceful beer that challenges the taste buds and rewards the palate; Founders continues to produce upper tier beers; this one from the break pack box leftovers--quite a find at $13.99 a twelve pack at Hope Liquors!

It seem quite silly, in my opinion, to drink this beer cold. I had one at fridge temp yesterday and I was profoundly disappointed. I have basically been saving the experience of trying this beer for later in my life since two years ago. Trying it for a second time now at room temperature and it is considerably more complex and balanced, but idk, just not blown away. I think I'd like KBS or CBS much more.

L: Incredibly dark. Just a trace of reddish cola color can be noted at the edges of the body when held to light, but it's as dark as espresso. A thin film of cappuccino foam lingers on top, and leaves sticky waves of lacing on the glass.

T: Salty as hell. Oddly enough, there is just an edge of oatmeal flavor right before the anticipatedly huge coffee note, which dances around the vanilla, dark chocolate, molasses, toffee, dried fruit, and black olives, all the way to the finish. It ends in almost entirely plain charcoal with a touch of unsweetened chocolate and coffee acidity. Alcohol is difficult to make out in all of that. If it was flat, you could easily mistake it for a mildly sweetened cold brew. Btw, when cold, the only detectable flavors are the chocolate, coffee and olives.

F: Super drinkable. Nice thickness. To my taste, it could be just a smidge thicker and more syrupy, but that's probably exactly how KBS is.

O: This brew reminds me very much of my first ever Russian Imperial Stout, Old Rasputin by North Coast. A touch less salty and with much more coffee flavor, it is also a delectable offering, but not one that I see as superior at all. If anything, I think I prefer Old Rasputin. In my honest opinion, BCBS, Narwhal, Victory at Sea, and even Founders' own porter all blow this out of the water. I'm still eager to try the barrel-aged editions, but thus far, I don't see what all the hype is about.

This is my all time favorite beer that is easily obtained year around, no questions asked.

Look: Dark brown with a light brown head on the pour.

Smell: Smells like chocolate and coffee, with a very enjoyable sweetness.

Taste: It taste amazing! Same as the smell with chocolate and coffee, dessert like flavors all around.

Feel: Perfect for this type of beer, not too think but not too thing or watery.

Overall, this is my go to during the fall and winter months when I need that full bodied dessert flavored beverage. I highly recommend picking this up to enjoy. If you like this, then you will enjoy KBS, which is a little harder to find but tastes even better. As always, enjoy responsibly!

Taste and Mouthfeel: Very creamy, silky and smooth. Very nice chewy mouthfeel. But the taste was less than outstanding. It tasted like a dry stout mixed with a cup of day old black coffee. Strong coffee with very little roasted malt character. I didn't get chocolate at all unless I thought really hard about chocolate. I wouldn't have guessed it was in there had I not known beforehand. No hop presence, but that's not a big deal. The finish was dry. In fact, it was only sweet at the very first. The coffee bitterness was there throughout.

Notes: This was quite a disappointment. I love Founder's and everything I've had from them, and I love oatmeal stouts, coffee stouts and chocolate stouts. But this was just not balanced. Way too much coffee. I won't be having this again.

Such an amazing beer, it just has everything going for it. I love the aroma, the feel, the taste. Very rich and creamy, a beautiful thick black color and hearty beer. Everyone and their mother should drink a glass of Founders Breakfast Stout.

Well...it's 11am on Saturday morning..what better time to try the Breakfast Stout I just got from Archer Liquors. Pours from the stubby brown bottle a deep, slightly thick syrupy black with a dark tan head that slows rises from the black hole upwards. Looks like a glass of black coffee after someone has gone out of their way to make it extra strong. First sniff is like opening a can of fresh ground coffee and inhaling deeply...damn do I love that...combined with chunks of rich dark chocolate. Roasted oats and burnt molasses round it out. Yum...screw my morning cup of coffee...give me this instead!

First sip is an explosion of rich coffee flavor along with a massive dose of chocolatey goodness. Roasted and burnt oatmeal gives a slightly nutty flavor as well. Hints of molasses and toffee come in and out. Everything works so well together here and each sip leaves me salivating for more. WOW.

Big, syrupy rich full mouthfeel that coats the mouth and is perfect for a big, tasty stout in my mind. Just enough carbonation. This is an incredibly tasty stout and ranks up there as my favorite so far. How I wish I had a case in my cellar. Highly recommended and well deserving of the hype. I look forward to more Founders brews in the future and hope they keep putting out stuff like this.

L - Dark brown, translucent. Proper glass not readily available to determine the head color/level.
S - Coffee and chocolate prominent.
T - Chocolate flavor prominent on the palette initially, then the coffee flavor settles in if left to linger and absorb all the flavors of the beer. The aftertaste is slightly hoppy/bitter with prominent coffee notes.
F - Delightfully balanced. The carbonation is just there enough to remind you it's a stout, but is never overwhelming and attributes to the smoothness of this brew.
O - If I could have one of this stout versus all of the others that were tried before it, I would choose this every time. Looking forward to trying the Kentucky Breakfast Stout and Canadian Breakfast Stout when available, which are apparently even BETTER but only available every few years.

A: Bright black with a thin filmn of a head that disappears to nothing.
S: Black coffee to espresso, roast.
T: coffee with hints of chocolate with a hop bitter that suggests espresso on the finish
F: Creamy smooth with a medium full to chey body and medium high carbonation.
O: A very well balanced brew.

Appearance: Pours a beautiful, completely opaque, pitch-black color with an eighth of a finger of caramel-colored head that quickly dissolved away into a thin halo of foam that gripped the sides of the glass.

Aroma: Lots of roasted malt and brown sugar, with a touch of maple syrup. Some subtle chocolate notes too, as well as some cream.

Mouthfeel: Chewy, and very smooth, as there is no carbonation what-so-ever. With an ABV of 8.3%, I’m surprised at how little a presence of alcohol there is on the palate.

Overall: This is another fantastic stout, and another great beer from Founders! Great flavors of roasted malt, coffee and dark chocolate, beautifully balanced with some brown sugar-like sweetness and hops. Delicious!

Very dark. Some head that dissipates to some lacing up the sides. Quite earthy roasted nose to it which is nice to actually smell a stout. Great taste. Oats and malt are very present. Coffe like coco sediment delivers the tastebuds a nice aftertaste. Carbonation not as present as expected, but this is an old bottle so maybe thats why. Complements food well with a clean wash but the alcohol is somewhat obvious. Which isnt always bad I guess. Well done. Woukd buy again. Well balanced.